We discussed earlier this year how important building your brand as an author is. Strategy, content, and social media all come into play when building your own brand. Here, we will break down some practical ways to begin building your brand and give you a step-by-step guide for getting started!

1. Who Are You?To begin, you have to figure out who you are as an author. Ask yourself, “Who am I?” When you’re answering this question, consider what you bring to the table as an author. Why are you different? Why is your book special? Why are people going to choose to support you as an author?2. Who Are You Marketing To?After you’ve figured out who you are as an author, you can figure out whom you are marketing to as an author. In other words, who is your target audience? Is it children? Young adults? Women? Men? When you figure out your target audience, you will be able to build a brand that markets directly to that audience.

3. Set Up Your PlatformWhen you’ve answered the questions of who you are as an author and who your target audience is, you can start to set up your actual author platform. First and foremost, you will need to set up your author website. For further instruction on how to best build your website, you can revisit our blog post on it.

4. Don’t Shy Away From EmailIf you think of your email list as just another way to connect with your readers, like Twitter or Facebook, it becomes much less intimidating. If you can make a great first impression with your readers and create an easy form for them to use to subscribe to your email list, building your email list is completely doable. The important thing to remember when building your email list is that you shouldn’t wait to start. Begin building the list and develop it as you go, even if your website or book aren’t quite ready.

5. Get Active on Social MediaAs we’ve mentioned in posts previously, social media is crucial to your brand. The beauty of social media is that you have the creative liberty to tailor it to exactly the way you want it. Keep in mind the Rule of Thirds that we mentioned in an earlier blog post and remember to use your social media as a way to connect with your audience. If you use it solely as a promotional tool for your book or even for yourself, your audience will not be drawn in as effectively. Keep in mind what your readers connect with about you, and use that often in your social media.

Remember to have patience with yourself as you build your brand and that, even using these practical steps, it will probably take some time. It’s okay to not get everything in order right away, as long as you are making progress!

​When it comes to marketing yourself an author, you don’t have to wait until your book is finished and published to begin. The earlier you connect and begin to build familiarity and relationships with your readers, the better.

This becomes possible when you realize that you are marketing yourself more than you are marketing your book. At the end of the day, your name is a more important brand than your book’s title. The key is to build your own personal brand through which you can promote your books. We're launching a new blog series in 2019, dedicated to helping authors build their platforms and their brand. Here's a few things to get you started . . . maybe one or two will make it to your New Year's Resolution list!

It’s All About StrategyAs an author, you know your “lane.” In other words, you know your area of expertise. To start building your platform, you’ll have to pick your lane and start traveling down it! This can look like attending conferences, finding online forums to participate in, and even reading other authors’ stories similar to your own and reaching out to them to build community. Just like making friends in real world situations, the initial start is always uncomfortable. If you can break through that barrier, though, you’ll be able to build great relationships that will truly be able to help you along your way.​

Content Is KeyAs you are building your brand, you have to consider every element – from the colors you use to the fonts you choose to the images and logos you select. Keep in mind that each thing you post, on any platform, contributes directly to building your brand and, ultimately, selling your book. Take the time to think through how you want to present yourself.

Social MediaSocial media can be either your greatest ally or your worst enemy, and it’s easy to feel intimidated by it. To start out, take a look at all forms of social media – Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, and see what feels like a good fit for you. If you sign up, try to keep your name across these social media outlets as uniform as possible, so that it will be easier for your readers to find and follow you.

If you've already started your online social media presence through Goodreads or other online social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, connect with your followers, like some of their posts, follow celebrities, groups, or other authors that you admire. Just start making online connections, one follow at a time.

For authors with books already published, we strongly suggest creating and keeping fresh your Goodreads Profile and Amazon.com Author Central profiles. Be sure to keep them fresh with weekly posts or link them to your existing blog.